JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.GET SAVED NOW- CALL ON JESUS TODAY.THE ONLY SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE EARTH - NO OTHER. 1 COR 15:23-JESUS THE FIRST FRUITS-CHRISTIANS RAPTURED TO JESUS-FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT-23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.ROMANS 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.(THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURE)
ISRAEL STRIKES HEZBOLLAH SITES.
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The
earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with
violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)(HAMAS IN HEBREW IS VIOLENCE)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13
And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the
earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM)(HAMAS) through them; and,
behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
NUCLEAR WEAPONS WILL BE USED.
JESUS
SHED HIS BLOOD FOR US THAT WE CAN BE SAVED FOREVER.AND DURING WW3
PEOPLES BLOOD WILL BE SHED AS A JUDGEMENT FOR HATING HIM AND ISRAEL.GOD
IS NOT MOCKED.
ZEPHANIAH 1:2-3
2 I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the LORD.
3
I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven,
and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I
will cut off man from off the land, saith the LORD.
PSALMS 97:3
3 A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about.
EZEKIEL 5:15-17
15
So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an
astonishment unto the (ARAB/MUSLIM) nations that are round about
thee,(ISRAEL) when I shall execute judgments in thee in anger and in
fury and in furious rebukes. I the LORD have spoken it.
16 When I
shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their
destruction, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase
the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread:
17 So will I
send upon you famine and evil beasts,(WHEN RUSSIA/MUSLIMS GET DEFEATED
THIER BODIES GET EATEN BY BIRDS,ANIMALS IN ISRAEL MIGRATION SEASON) and
they shall bereave thee; and pestilence and blood shall pass through
thee;(NUKES) and I will bring the sword upon thee. I the LORD have
spoken it.
REVELATION 14:18-20
18 And another angel came out
from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to
him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and
gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully
ripe.
19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and
gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of
the wrath of God.
20 And the winepress was trodden without the
city,(JERUSALEM) and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the
horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.(200
MILES) (THE SIZE OF ISRAEL)
ISAIAH 66:15-18
15 For, behold,
the LORD will come with fire,(NUKES) and with his chariots like a
whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of
fire.
16 For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.
17
They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens
behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination,
and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.
18 For I
know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather
all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.
ISAIAH 26:21
21
For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants
of the earth for their iniquity:(GOD/ISRAEL HATE AND BRAKING OF HIS
COMMANDMENTS) the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more
cover her slain.(WW3,1/2 earths population die - 3 BILLION).
ISAIAH 13:6-13 KJV
6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:(FROM FRIGHT)
8
And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them;
they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed
one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 Behold, the day of
the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land
desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10 For
the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their
light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall
not cause her light to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for
their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the
arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the
terrible.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13
Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of
her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his
fierce anger.
ISAIAH 24:17-23 KJV
17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18
And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the
fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of
the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are
open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20
The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed
like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it;
and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass
in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that
are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22 And they
shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and
shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be
visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed,
when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and
before his ancients gloriously.
2 TIMOTHY 3:1
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous (DANGEROUS) times shall come.
JOEL 2:3,30
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12
And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the
people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume
away while they stand upon their feet,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and
their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB)
and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(DISOLVED FROM
ATOMIC BOMB)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD
PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
13 And it shall come to pass in that
day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they
shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand
shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN
WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)
EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say
to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the
Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour
every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall
not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be
burned therein.
ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor
their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath;
but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for
he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
MALACHI 4:1
1
For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven;(FROM ATOMIC
BOMBS) and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be
stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of
hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
REVELATION 8:7
7
The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with
blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees
was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
REVELATION 9:18
18
By these three was the third part of men killed,(2 BILLION) by the
fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their
mouths.(ATOMIC BOMBS)(RUSSIA CHINA DESTROYED BY ISRAELS ATOMIC BOMBS)
REVELATION 16:12-16
12
And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river
Euphrates;(WERE WW3 STARTS IN IRAQ OR SYRIA OR TURKEY) and the water
thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be
prepared.
13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of
the mouth of the dragon,(SATAN) and out of the mouth of the beast,(WORLD
DICTATOR) and out of the mouth of the false prophet.(FALSE POPE)
14
For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth
unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to
the battle of that great day of God Almighty.(WERE 2 BILLION DIE FROM
NUKE WAR)
15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
17
And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a
great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is
done.
PROOF HALF ON EARTH DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD (8 BILLION ON EARTH)
REVELATION 6:7-8 (8 BILLION- 2 BILLION = 6 BILLION)
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8
And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that
sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given
unto them over the fourth part of the earth,(2 BILLION) to kill with
sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE
DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).
REVELATION 9:15,18 (6 BILLION - 2 BILLION = 4 BILLION)
15 And the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels were loosed,
18
By these three was the third part of men killed,(2 BILLION) by the
fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their
mouths.(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMBS)
HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
LUKE
17:34-37 (8 TOTAL BILLION - 4 BILLION DEAD IN TRIB = 4 BILLION TO JESUS
KINGDOM) (HALF DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD JUST LIKE THE
BIBLE SAYS)(GOD DOES NOT LIE)(AND NOTICE MOST DIE IN WAR AND
DISEASES-NOT COMETS-ASTEROIDS-QUAKES OR TSUNAMIS)
34 I tell you, in
that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken,(IN
WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other shall be left.(half earths population 4
billion die in the 7 yr trib)
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
37
And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto
them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered
together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against
Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten
by the birds).THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-NOT RAPTURE
SCRIPTURES.BECAUSE NOT HALF OF PEOPLE ON EARTH ARE CHRISTIANS.AND THE
CONTEXT IN LUKE 17 IS THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION OR 7 YR TREATY PERIOD.WHICH
IS JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH.NOT 50% RAPTURED TO HEAVEN.
MATTHEW 24:37-42 (THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-SURE NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)(50% OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE)
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38
For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe
entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
42 Watch therefore:(FOR THE LAST DAYS SIGNS HAPPENING) for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12
And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the
people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume
away while they stand upon their feet,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and
their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB)
and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(DISOLVED FROM
ATOMIC BOMB)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD
PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
13 And it shall come to pass in that
day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they
shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand
shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN
WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)
EZEKIEL 32:18-29 (NOTICE ALL THE COUNTRIES LAND PROMISED ISRAEL BY GOD ARE IN THE JORDAN VALLEY BURIED)
18
“Son of man, wail for the multitudes of Egypt, and consign her and the
daughters of the mighty nations to the depths of the earth with those
who descend to the Pit:
19 Whom do you surpass in beauty? Go down and be placed with the uncircumcised! (IN HELL FIRES)
20 They will fall among those slain by the sword. The sword is appointed! Let them drag her away along with all her multitudes.
21
Mighty chiefs will speak from the midst of Sheol about Egypt and her
allies: ‘They have come down and lie with the uncircumcised, with those
slain by the sword.’
22 Assyria (SYRIA) is there with her whole company; her graves are all around her. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword.
23
Her graves are set in the depths of the Pit, and her company is all
around her grave. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword—those who
once spread terror in the land of the living.
24 Elam (IRAN) is there
with all her multitudes around her grave. All of them are slain, fallen
by the sword—those who went down uncircumcised to the earth below, who
once spread their terror in the land of the living. They bear their
disgrace with those who descend to the Pit.
25 Among the slain they
prepare a resting place for Elam with all her hordes, with her graves
all around her. All of them are uncircumcised, slain by the sword,
although their terror was once spread in the land of the living. They
bear their disgrace with those who descend to the Pit. They are placed
among the slain.
26 Meshech and Tubal (RUSSIA) are there with all
their multitudes, with their graves all around them. All of them are
uncircumcised, slain by the sword, because they spread their terror in
the land of the living.
27 They do not lie down with the fallen
warriors of old, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, whose
swords were placed under their heads, whose shields rested on their
bones, although the terror of the mighty was once in the land of the
living.
28 But you too will be shattered and lie down among the uncircumcised, with those slain by the sword.
29
Edom (JORDAN) is there, and all her kings and princes, who despite
their might are laid among those slain by the sword. They lie down with
the uncircumcised, with those who descend to the Pit.THIS IS RIGHT FROM
93:
PSALMS 83:1-8 (GODS LAND PROMISED TO ISRAEL)
1 O God, do not remain silent;do not turn a deaf ear,do not stand aloof, O God.
2 See how your enemies growl, how your foes rear their heads.
3 With cunning they (ARAB,MUSLIMS) conspire against your people;they plot against those you cherish.(ISRAELIS)
4 “Come,” they say, “let us destroy them as a nation, so that Israel’s name is remembered no more.”
5 With one mind they plot together;(TREATIES) they form an alliance against you—
6
the tents of Edom (JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites, (EGYPTIAN ARABS SO
CALLED PALESTIANS) of Moab (JORDAN) and the Hagrites,(EGYPT)
7 Byblos,(HEZBOLLOH) Ammon (JORDAN) and Amalek,(SYRIAN ARABS IN THE SINAI) Philistia,(ARABS) with the people of Tyre (LEBANON).
8 Even Assyria (SYRIA) has joined them to reinforce Lot’s descendants.
DR SAMUEL DOCTORIANS VISION - SECOND ANGEL: MIDDLE EAST
Then
I saw that the second angel had a sickle in his hand, such as is used
in harvesting.The second angel said: "Harvest time has come in Israel
and the countries all the way to Iran."I saw those countries in a few
split seconds."All of Turkey and those [inaudible] countries that have
refused me and refused my message of love shall hate each other and kill
one another."I saw the angel raise the sickle and come down on all the
Middle East countries. I saw Iran, Persia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, all of
Georgia - Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, all of Asia Minor - full
of blood. I saw blood all over these countries. And I saw fire; Nuclear
weapons used in many of those countries. Smoke rising from everywhere.
Sudden destruction – men destroying one another. I heard these
words:"Israel, Oh Israel, the great judgment has come." The angel said,
"The chosen, the church, the remnant, shall be purified. The Spirit of
God shall prepare the children of God."I saw fires rising to heaven.The
angel said: "This is the final judgment. My church shall be purified,
protected and ready for the final day. Men will die from thirst. Water
shall be sc
Israel strikes Hezbollah sites as attacks on northern
towns persist-Two horses killed when rocket strikes family’s barn in
Betzet; two anti-tank missiles strike community of Misgav Am-By Emanuel
Fabian-and ToI Staff Today, 5:44 pm-JUN 29,24
Israel struck
Hezbollah targets in Lebanon Saturday as the terror group continued to
hit northern communities with rockets and anti-tank missiles amid the
growing threat of an escalation and all-out war.Saturday morning saw two
anti-tank guided missiles fired from southern Lebanon that targeted the
community of Misgav Am. No injuries were reported. The army responded
with artillery strikes to the source of fire.A rocket fired in a
Hezbollah barrage Friday night struck a barn inside the Western Galilee
community of Betzet, killing two horses, after Israeli forces failed to
down the projectile.On Saturday afternoon Israeli fighter jets struck a
building in southern Lebanon’s Houla where a group of Hezbollah
operatives were gathered, the military said. The IDF said the operatives
were spotted by troops of the 869th Combat Intelligence Collection
Unit, and a short while later the airstrike was carried out.Another
building used by Hezbollah in Houla was also struck, the IDF added. It
published footage of the strikes.In Betzet, resident Idan Ishach Erez
told Ynet the two horses belonged to her 14-year-old daughter Shahar,
whose bedroom window looked out onto their pen.“Who will look out for
and care mentally for our children, who along with us were forced to
hear the horses crying out in pain, while asking us to help them, but we
couldn’t do more than put them to sleep to prevent their continued
suffering,” she said.She added that the rocket attack came as the family
was eating Shabbat dinner on their porch, from where they rushed inside
their home to take shelter.“There was crying and hysteria. It did not
matter [to my children] that the house was also struck. They cried about
the horses, who are family members in all senses.”Saturday saw
Lebanon’s Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati tour south Lebanon,
saying his country faced “psychological warfare” in clashes with Israel,
but was working to reach calm on the border.Mikati was checking in on
matriculation exams, which were being held despite daily clashes between
Israel and Hezbollah on the border.“The army is Lebanon’s wall. If the
army does not have a presence in southern Lebanon, the exams could not
be held,” he was quoted as saying.Lebanon’s military is deployed in
south Lebanon but has no control over Hezbollah, which operates
independently and unrestrained.On Friday Defense Minister Yoav Gallant
said Israel was “not looking for war” with Hezbollah and that a
diplomatic solution was preferable. Nevertheless, Gallant reiterated
that Israel was making preparations and planning for a wider conflict,
and said the ball was in Hezbollah’s court.The defense minister’s
remarks came hours after a tense cabinet meeting in which National
Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir criticized Gallant and Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu for supporting a deal with Hezbollah to avert all-out
war in the north. Ben Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit indicated it could
bolt the government if Israel shied away from launching a full-scale
assault on the Iran-backed Lebanese terror group.Hezbollah on Friday
claimed responsibility for dozens of barrages earlier in the day,
including rockets fired at a military base near Kiryat Shmona,
explosive-laden drones launched at another army position in the Western
Galilee, and several more attacks along the border.The Israel Defense
Force said it launched interceptor missiles at three drones, but failed
to down the devices. According to the military, damage was caused to a
building in Western Galilee by one of the rockets, which also sparked
several fires in northern Israel.No injuries were caused in the attacks,
although a home in the border community of Shlomi was damaged by one of
the rockets. The IDF said it shelled the sources of fire with artillery
and later carried out a “wave of attacks” against Hezbollah targets in
southern Lebanon.Hezbollah has been shelling northern communities on a
near-daily basis, beginning soon after Hamas’s October 7 attacks on
Israel. Fearing Hezbollah would carry out a similar attack, Israel
evacuated residents of the Lebanon border communities, some 60,000 of
whom remain displaced.Diplomatic efforts led by the United States have
so far failed to remove Hezbollah forces from Israel’s northern border,
where skirmishes with the Iran-backed terror group appear on the verge
of full-blown war.Politico on Thursday cited a United States official as
saying that the risk of war was higher than it has been for weeks.
According to the official, a major attack by either side could spark a
war, which could happen with “little notice.” A United Nations official
said on Wednesday war would be “potentially apocalyptic.”Speaking to
troops at an Iron Dome air defense system battery in northern Israel,
Gallant said the country was developing two “significant” alternatives
for Lebanon.“[We are] preparing the military force… and this can happen
quickly. On the other hand, the political alternative is being prepared,
it is always better,” he said.“We are not looking for war but we are
ready for it. And we will reach a junction, it will be a T junction both
for the enemy and for us. If [Hezbollah] chooses to go to war, we will
know what to do. If it chooses to go to an agreement, we will respond to
this matter,” Gallant said.Iran’s mission to the United Nations said on
Friday that if Israel embarks on a “full-scale military aggression” in
Lebanon against Hezbollah, “an obliterating war will ensue.”Writing on X
on Friday, the Iranian UN mission said that if Israel were to launch a
war on Hezbollah, “all options, including the full involvement of all
resistance fronts, are on the table.”Iran’s “Axis of Resistance,” which
includes Hezbollah, Hamas, Yemen’s Houthis, and other groups in Syria
and Iraq, has been targeting Israel since October 7.Iran itself also
launched an unprecedented missile-and-drone strike on Israel on April
14, two weeks after an alleged Israel airstrike near Tehran’s embassy in
Damascus killed several senior officers of the Islamic Revolutionary
Guard Corps. The Iranian strike was almost entirely repelled by Israel,
the United States and other allies, though a 7-year-old girl was
seriously injured in the attack.
Houthis claim hits on 4 ships in
Mediterranean, Red Sea amid contradicting reports-British maritime body
says Liberia-flagged vessel not damaged despite claim of ‘direct hit’;
US military destroys 7 drones, ground control station vehicle operated
by Yemeni terrorists-By Agencies Today, 12:34 pm-JUN 29,24
Yemen’s
Houthi rebels on Friday claimed responsibility for attacking a
Liberia-flagged vessel in the Red Sea that a maritime agency said had
survived five missiles, while also saying they targeted three other
vessels including two in the Mediterranean.The Iran-aligned Houthis say
their attacks on shipping lanes are in solidarity with Palestinians in
the ongoing war in Gaza, sparked by Hamas’s October 7 massacre in
southern Israel.Yahya Saree, the Houthi military spokesperson, said in a
televised statement that the group launched ballistic missiles at the
Delonix, an oil tanker, and that it took a “direct hit.”However, the
United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) monitor said earlier in
the day that the ship, which was targeted 150 nautical miles (172
miles) northwest of the Yemeni port of Hodeidah, reported no damage and
was heading northward.The Houthis have exaggerated their claims in the
past. The rebels have targeted more than 60 vessels by firing missiles
and drones in their campaign, which has killed a total of four sailors.
They seized one vessel and sank two since November.Saree also said the
Houthis attacked the Ioannis ship in the Red Sea, as well as the Waler
oil tanker and the Johannes Maersk vessel in the Mediterranean.He said
the Johannes Maersk, which is owned by Maersk, the world’s
second-largest container carrier, was targeted because it belongs to
“one of the most supportive companies for the Zionist entity and the
most that violates ban decision of access to the ports of occupied
Palestine.”Twice this month, the group claimed to have launched joint
military operations with the Iraqi Islamic Resistance against ships in
Haifa, though there were no reports of an incident at the Mediterranean
port city.Also Friday, the United States military said that it destroyed
seven Houthi drones and one ground control station vehicle in
Houthi-controlled Yemen.International shipping has been disrupted since
November by attacks in the region launched by the Houthis. Many vessels
have opted to avoid the Red Sea route to the Suez Canal, taking the
longer journey around the southern tip of Africa instead.The US is
spearheading a naval coalition to protect vessels in the vital waterway,
and has also conducted air strikes in Houthi territory, both on its own
and alongside Britain.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Weekly rally to highlight plight of kidnapped siblings-US said
rewording truce-hostage offer to revive talks, as families set to rally
for deal-New effort focused on changes to conditions for talks in first
phase, US official says; protest groups to gather Sat. night, and plan
July 7 shutdown to mark 9 months since Oct. 7-By ToI Staff Today, 12:33
pm-JUN 29,24
The United States has proposed new language for
parts of the proposed hostage and ceasefire deal between Israel and
Hamas in an effort to reach an agreement, a report said Saturday, as
relatives of those still held captive in Gaza were set to protest on
Saturday night to urge the government to secure a deal.The Axios news
site reported on Saturday, citing three sources with direct knowledge of
the talks, that the US, with fellow mediators Qatar and Egypt, was
focused on amending Clause 8 of the hostage-truce deal, concerning
negotiations to be held during the six-week ceasefire stipulated by the
agreement’s first phase.“The US is working very hard to find a formula
that will allow reaching a deal,” one of the sources was quoted as
saying, while another predicted that the agreement could be sealed if
Hamas okays the changes.Under the proposal’s current provisions, the
deal’s first phase would see the fighting in Gaza cease for six weeks,
during which Hamas would release the remaining living female, elderly
and sick hostages.In tandem, the sides would hold talks to secure a
second six-week truce during which Hamas would release the remaining
living hostages, including young men and male soldiers.However, if Hamas
were found to violate its commitments under the deal, Israel could
resume fighting.Hamas reportedly wants talks during the agreement’s
first phase to address only how many and which Palestinian prisoners
will be released in return for the living male hostages; Israel, on the
other hand, also wants to discuss the demilitarization of Gaza, among
other matters.According to partial leaks of the Israeli proposal earlier
this month, Clause 8 reads: “No later than day 16 [of phase one], the
commencement of indirect negotiations between the two sides to agree on
the conditions for implementing stage two of this agreement, including
those relating to the keys for the exchange of hostages and prisoners
(soldiers and remaining men), and this should be concluded and agreed
upon before the end of week five of this [first] stage.”The fate of the
proposal was unclear earlier this week after Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu said in an interview with the right-wing Channel 14 on Sunday
that he was willing to temporarily withdraw the army from the Gaza Strip
in return for a “partial deal” that would see some of the hostages
returned, but would then “continue the fighting” until Hamas is
destroyed.But the prime minister appeared to walk back the statement the
following day, insisting that he was still “committed to the Israeli
[ceasefire] proposal welcomed by [US] President Biden. Our position has
not changed.”A senior Arab official from one of the mediating countries
told The Times of Israel on Monday that Netanyahu’s comments had
vindicated Hamas’s concerns Israel will only carry out phase one of the
deal before finding a way to resume fighting.For its part, the US State
Department for the first time on Tuesday characterized Hamas’s response
to the Israeli proposal as a rejection. The terror group “came back
several weeks ago and rejected the proposal that was on the table,”
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said during a press
briefing. “They gave us a written response that rejected the proposal
put forward by Israel, that President Biden had outlined, that the
United Nations Security Council and countries all around the world had
endorsed,” he added, calling it a “written rejection and
counter-proposal that came from Hamas.”Meanwhile, the Hostages and
Missing Families Forum, which will hold its weekly rally at Tel Aviv’s
Hostages Square on Saturday night, pledged to keep calling on the
government to realize the deal, first presented by US Biden in a May 31
speech. The rally will be complemented by a nearby protest of
anti-government groups, which have often joined the main rally at past
demonstrations.The hostages’ families forum, as well as some opposition
figures, eviscerated the premier earlier this week for appearing to
renege on the deal presented by Biden, which had been approved by
Israel’s since-disbanded war cabinet.Announcing its weekly Saturday
rally, the Hostages Forum said: “We must approve the deal — we cannot
miss this opportunity for an agreement that will bring all the hostages
home, the living for rehabilitation, the murdered for proper burial.”The
rally will highlight the plight of kidnapped siblings, the group said
in a statement, adding that among the 120 remaining hostages are five
pairs of siblings.This week’s demonstration will feature a video message
from Noa Argamani, who was rescued from Hamas captivity in early June
along with three other hostages. Other speakers will include the parents
of hostage Liri Albag and siblings of hostages Itzik Elgarat, Tsachi
Idan, Ohad Yahalomi and Tamir Adar, the statement said.Near the Hostages
Square rally, anti-government groups will protest on Tel Aviv’s Kaplan
Street to demand the government’s resignation and new elections.The
anti-government groups have also said they are organizing a shutdown of
businesses and commerce on July 7, marking nine months to the day of
Hamas’s shock assault, which protest groups accuse the government of
failing to prevent.Over the past week, protest leaders had campaigned
for a shutdown of commerce on Thursday, but the call went largely
unheeded.The war in Gaza erupted after Hamas’s October 7 massacre, which
saw some 3,000 terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land,
air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 251 hostages, mostly
civilians, many amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.It is believed
that 116 hostages abducted on October 7 remain in Gaza — not all of
them alive — after 105 civilians were released from Hamas captivity
during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were
released prior to that.Seven hostages have been rescued by troops alive,
and the bodies of 19 hostages have also been recovered, including three
mistakenly killed by the military.The IDF has confirmed the deaths of
42 of those still held by Hamas, citing new intelligence and findings
obtained by troops operating in Gaza. One more person has been listed as
missing since October 7, and their fate is still unknown.Hamas has also
been holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and
2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in
2014.Jacob Magid contributed to this report.
Iran’s UN mission
threatens ‘obliterating war’ if Israel launches Lebanon offensive-Amid
push for diplomatic solution, US official warns full-blown conflict with
Hezbollah could break out with ‘little notice’, Gallant says Jerusalem
‘not looking for war’-By ToI Staff and Reuters Today, 10:44 am-JUN 29,24
Iran’s
mission to the United Nations said on Friday that if Israel embarks on a
“full-scale military aggression” in Lebanon against Hezbollah, “an
obliterating war will ensue.”The warning came after the Israel Defense
Force attacked several Hezbollah positions, in response to the
Iran-backed terror group’s latest barrage on northern Israel hours
earlier, amid escalating tensions on the Lebanese border.Writing on X on
Friday, the Iranian UN mission said that if Israel were to launch a war
on Hezbollah, “all options, including the full involvement of all
resistance fronts, are on the table.”Iran’s “Axis of Resistance,” which
includes Hezbollah, Hamas, Yemen’s Houthis, and other groups in Syria
and Iraq, has been targeting Israel since October 7, when thousands of
Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and
taking 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.Iran itself also launched
an unprecedented missile-and-drone strike on Israel on April 14, two
weeks after an alleged Israel airstrike near Tehran’s embassy in
Damascus killed several senior officers of the Islamic Revolutionary
Guard Corps. The Iranian strike was almost entirely repelled by Israel,
the United States and other allies, though a 7-year-old girl was
seriously injured in the attack.Soon after Hamas’s October 7 massacre,
Israel evacuated much of its north, fearing Hezbollah, Iran’s proxy in
Lebanon, would carry out a similar attack. Some 60,000 residents of
northern Israel remain displaced, as the country seeks to remove the
terror group from its northern border.Albeit Iran deems as psychological
warfare the Zionist regime’s propaganda about intending to attack
Lebanon, should it embark on full-scale military aggression, an
obliterating war will ensue. All options, incl. the full involvement of
all Resistance Fronts, are on the table.— I.R.IRAN Mission to UN, NY
(@Iran_UN) June 28, 2024-Diplomatic efforts led by the US have so far
failed to make the terror group retreat beyond the Litani River — some
30 kilometers (19 miles) north of the border with Israel — in accord
with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the
2006 Israel-Hezbollah conflict.Tensions between Israel and Hezbollah
have been steadily mounting, with a US official cited in Politico on
Thursday as saying that the risk of war is higher than it has been for
weeks. According to the official, a major attack by either side could
spark a war, which could happen with “little notice.”In a June 19
speech, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said “no place” in Israel
would be spared from the group’s weapons in case of a full-blown war,
adding that Hezbollah would fight with “no rules” and “no ceilings.”He
also threatened Cyprus for allowing Israel to use its territory for
military exercises, and appeared to threaten Israel’s offshore gas rigs,
saying Israel “knows that what also awaits it in the Mediterranean is
very big.”Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah speaks at a ceremony
commemorating a slain Hezbollah senior commander, June 19, 2024.
(Screenshot)-Speaking at a ceremony commemorating senior Hezbollah
commander Taleb Abdullah, whom Israel killed in an airstrike a week
before, Nasrallah said the Shiite terror group does not want “total war”
but is only acting in support of Hamas.“We will continue to support
Gaza and we are ready for anything. We are not afraid,” said Nasrallah.
“Our demand is clear: A complete and permanent ceasefire in
Gaza.”Israeli security leaders have also said they would prefer a
diplomatic resolution to the conflict, but were readying the military in
case war became necessary.Speaking to troops at an Iron Dome air
defense battery in northern Israel on Friday, Defense Minister Yoav
Gallant said the country was “not looking for war.”“[We are] preparing
the military force… and this can happen quickly. On the other hand, the
political alternative is being prepared, it is always better,” said
Gallant.Emanuel Fabian contributed to this report.
US officials
say thousands of 2,000-pound bombs shipped to Israel since Oct. 7-Over
14,000 MK-84s, which Biden paused a shipment of, are among the US
munitions sent to Israeli forces fighting against Hamas and Hezbollah-By
Reuters and ToI Staff Today, 3:25 am-JUN 29,24
WASHINGTON — The
Biden administration has sent to Israel large numbers of munitions,
including more than 10,000 highly destructive 2,000-pound bombs and
thousands of Hellfire missiles, since the start of the war in Gaza, said
two US officials briefed on an updated list of weapons
shipments.Between the war’s start last October and recent days, the
United States has transferred at least 14,000 of the MK-84 2,000-pound
bombs, 6,500 500-pound bombs, 3,000 Hellfire precision-guided
air-to-ground missiles, 1,000 bunker-buster bombs, 2,600 air-dropped
small-diameter bombs, and other munitions, according to the officials,
who were not authorized to speak publicly.While the officials didn’t
give a timeline for the shipments, the totals suggest there has been no
significant drop-off in US military support for its ally, despite
international calls to limit weapons supplies and a recent
administration decision to pause a shipment of powerful bombs.Experts
said the contents of the shipments appear consistent with what Israel
would need to replenish supplies used in this eight-month intense
military campaign in Gaza, which it launched after the October 7 attack
by Palestinian Hamas terrorists who killed some 1,200 people, mostly
civilians, and took 251 hostages.“While these numbers could be expended
relatively quickly in a major conflict, this list clearly reflects a
substantial level of support from the United States for our Israeli
allies,” said Tom Karako, a weapons expert at the Center for Strategic
and International Studies, adding that the listed munitions were the
type Israel would use in its fight against Hamas or in a potential
conflict with Hezbollah.The delivery numbers, which have not been
previously reported, provide the most up-to-date and extensive tally of
munitions shipped to Israel since the Gaza war began.Israel and
Hezbollah have been engaged in near-daily skirmishes since the
Iran-backed terror group being launched attacks from Lebanon a day after
Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, and concern is rising that an all-out war
could break out between the two sides.The White House declined to
comment. Israel’s Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a
request for comment.The shipments are part of a bigger list of weapons
sent to Israel since the Gaza conflict began, one of the US officials
said. A senior Biden administration official on Wednesday told reporters
that Washington has since October 7 sent $6.5 billion worth of security
assistance to Israel.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in recent weeks
claimed that Washington was withholding weapons, a suggestion US
officials have repeatedly denied even though they acknowledged some
“bottlenecks.”The Biden administration has paused one shipment of the
2,000-pound bomb, citing concern over the impact it could have in
densely populated areas in Gaza, but US officials insist that all other
arms deliveries continue as normal. One 2,000-pound bomb can rip through
thick concrete and metal, creating a wide blast radius.Reuters reported
on Thursday that the United States is discussing with Israel the
release of a shipment of large bombs that was suspended in May over
worries about the military operation in Rafah.International scrutiny of
Israel’s military operation in Gaza has intensified as the Palestinian
death toll from the war has exceeded 37,000, according to the Hamas-run
Gaza health ministry, an unverified figure that does not differentiate
between combatants and civilians. Israel says it has killed some 15,000
combatants in battle and some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel during the
October 7 attack.316 troops have been killed during the ground offensive
against Hamas and amid operations along the Gaza border. The toll
includes a police officer killed in a hostage rescue mission. A civilian
Defense Ministry contractor has also been killed in the
Strip.Washington gives $3.8 billion in annual military assistance to its
longtime ally. While Biden has warned that he would place conditions on
military aid if Israel fails to protect civilians and allow more
humanitarian aid into Gaza, he has not done so beyond delaying the May
shipment.Biden’s support for Israel in its war against Hamas has emerged
as a political liability, particularly among young Democrats, as he
runs for re-election this year. It fueled a wave of “uncommitted”
protest votes in primaries and has driven pro-Palestinian protests
against Israel at US universities.While the United States provides
detailed descriptions and quantities of military aid sent to Ukraine as
it fights a full-scale invasion of Russia, the administration has
revealed few details about the full extent of US weapons and munitions
sent to Israel.The shipments are also hard to track because some of the
weapons are shipped as part of arms sales approved by Congress years ago
but only now being fulfilled.One of the US officials said the Pentagon
has sufficient quantities of weapons in its own stocks and had been
liaising with US industry partners who make the weapons, such as Boeing
and General Dynamics as the companies work to manufacture more.
Iran
installs half of planned new centrifuges at Fordow, IAEA report
says-Atomic energy agency says Tehran’s four new cascades have been put
in place but haven’t yet started enriching uranium-By Reuters 28 June
2024, 10:59 pm
VIENNA – Iran has installed half the advanced
uranium-enriching machines it said earlier this month it would quickly
add to its Fordow site dug into a mountain but has not yet brought them
online, the UN nuclear watchdog said in a report seen by Reuters.Iran
informed the International Atomic Energy Agency two weeks ago it would
rapidly expand its enrichment capacity at Fordow by adding eight
cascades, or clusters, of IR-6 centrifuges at Fordow within three to
four weeks.Within two days the IAEA had verified that two of the
cascades had been installed. In a confidential report to member states
on Friday the agency said that number had now doubled.“The Agency has
verified that Iran has installed four of the aforementioned eight IR-6
cascades in Unit 1 at FFEP (Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant),” the report
said, adding that the verification happened on Sunday.“Iran has not
specified to the Agency when it would start feeding any of the cascades
in Unit 1 with UF6 or the planned enrichment level,” it added, referring
to uranium hexafluoride gas, the feedstock for centrifuges.Diplomats
say the addition of the IR-6 machines was a response to a resolution
against Iran by the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors on June 5
calling on Tehran to step up cooperation with the watchdog and reverse
its recent barring of inspectors. Iran tends to bristle at such
resolutions.The United States announced new sanctions targeting Iran’s
oil trade on Thursday, saying it was acting in response to “steps (by
Iran) to further expand its nuclear program in ways that have no
credible peaceful purpose.”Iran is enriching uranium to up to 60%
purity, close to the roughly 90% of weapons grade, at two sites: Fordow
and an above-ground pilot plant at Natanz. It has enough material
enriched to up to 60%, if enriched further, for three nuclear weapons,
according to an IAEA yardstick.At Fordow, it is currently using the two
only operating cascades of IR-6 centrifuges there to enrich to 60% from
20%.Iran also informed the IAEA this month that it would bring online
more of the dozens of advanced centrifuges it has installed at its
largest enrichment site, the underground Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP) at
Natanz.The report said Iran plans to feed UF6 into 15 cascades of IR-2m
and IR-4 machines already installed but not yet enriching. The last
quarterly IAEA report in May put the number of those machines installed
but not operating at 21.Iran has now carried out passivation, a process
that involves feeding UF6 into centrifuges in preparation for enrichment
without accumulating enriched uranium, on six of those cascades,
Friday’s report said.“Iran has started feeding, for passivation
purposes, 4 natural UF 6 into an additional three IR-2m cascades and
three IR-4 cascades for the first time,” it said.Iran had also begun
installing one of the 18 extra IR-2m cascades it said this month it
would set up at the FEP, the report added.
Gallant: Israel ‘not
looking for war’ with Hezbollah, diplomatic route always better-Lebanese
terror group fires dozens of rockets at the north; IDF fails to
intercept three drones; far-right party threatens to leave coalition
unless Israel launches offensive-By Emanuel Fabian-and ToI Staff 28 June
2024, 11:50 pm
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Friday that
Israel is “not looking for war” with Hezbollah and that a diplomatic
solution was preferable, as the far-right Otzma Yehudit indicated it
would bolt the government if Israel shied away from launching a
full-scale assault on the Iran-backed Lebanese terror
group.Nevertheless, Gallant reiterated that Israel was making
preparations and planning for a wider conflict, and said the ball was in
Hezbollah’s court.The defense minister’s remarks came hours after a
tense cabinet meeting in which National Security Minister Itamar Ben
Gvir, the leader of Otzma Yehudit, criticized Gallant and Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu for supporting a deal with Hezbollah to avert
all-out war in the north.Meanwhile, Hezbollah on Friday claimed
responsibility for dozens of barrages earlier in the day, including
rockets fired at a military base near Kiryat Shmona, explosive-laden
drones launched at another army position in the Western Galilee, and
several more attacks along the border.The Israel Defense Force said it
launched interceptor missiles at three drones, but failed to down the
devices. According to the military, damage was caused to a building in
Western Galilee by one of the rockets, which also sparked several fires
in northern Israel.No injuries were caused in the attacks, although a
home in the border community of Shlomi was damaged by one of the
rockets. The IDF said it shelled the sources of fire with artillery and
later carried out a “wave of attacks” against Hezbollah targets in
southern Lebanon.The targets included a military site in Zibqin,
infrastructure in Khiam and Houla, and a building used by Hezbollah in
Odaisseh, according to the military.Hezbollah has been shelling northern
communities on a near-daily basis since soon after October 7, when
thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill nearly
1,200 people and take over 250 hostages, amid sexual violence.Fearing
Hezbollah would carry out a similar attack, Israel evacuated residents
of the Lebanon border communities, some 60,000 of whom remain
displaced.Diplomatic efforts led by the United States have so far failed
to remove Hezbollah forces from Israel’s northern border, where
skirmishes with the Iran-backed terror group appear on the verge of
full-blown war.Politico on Thursday cited a United States official as
saying that the risk of war is higher than it has been for weeks.
According to the official, a major attack by either side could spark a
war, which could happen with “little notice.” A United Nations official
said on Wednesday the war would be “potentially apocalyptic.”Speaking to
troops at an Iron Dome air defense system battery in northern Israel,
Gallant said the country was developing two “significant” alternatives
for Lebanon.“[We are] preparing the military force… and this can happen
quickly. On the other hand, the political alternative is being prepared,
it is always better,” he said.“We are not looking for war but we are
ready for it. And we will reach a junction, it will be a T junction both
for the enemy and for us. If [Hezbollah] chooses to go to war, we will
know what to do. If it chooses to go to an agreement, we will respond to
this matter,” Gallant said.“I know it’s not easy, not easy for you and
not easy for the residents of the north. There is one thing I can tell
you and that is that it is much more difficult for Hezbollah and
Lebanon. It is easy to speak from the bunker and make statements,” he
said, referring to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.“At the end of the
day, there are over 450 terrorists killed [in Lebanon]. The area is hit
on a very severe level. Therefore, this burden is placed on the enemy in
a much greater way than on us,” Gallant added.Gallant reportedly made a
similar point at the cabinet meeting which began late on Thursday.“I
told the Americans that we are not the ones who want a war in the north,
and if we reach a deal that removes [Hezbollah] from a border, that
would be acceptable,” said Gallant, who recently returned from a
four-day visit to Washington.“How can we not have a war?” Ben Gvir was
said to interject. “Have we learned nothing from 20 years of
deal-making? We’ll make a deal, and then within a year or two they’ll
rape our women and murder our children.”Ben Gvir also reportedly pushed
back when Netanyahu expressed support for a diplomatic resolution to the
tensions with Hezbollah.“If we reach an arrangement that allows the
return of residents to the north, then we can make a deal,” Netanyahu
was quoted by Hebrew media as saying, “but that’s the crux of it —
returning the residents up north. Only with the conditions that allow
that [will Israel make a deal].”Ben Gvir was said to reiterate that
making a deal with Hezbollah would lead to a repeat of October 7,
adding: “You don’t make deals with Nazis.”A member of Ben Gvir’s party
was later quoted in Makor Rishon as threatening the faction and would
bolt the government if Israel did not launch an offensive on
Hezbollah.“If there is no campaign in the north, we will have to make a
decision about remaining in the government,” Otzma Yehudit MK Yitzhak
Kroizer told the weekly. “This government cannot continue to exist if a
diplomatic agreement is made [to end tensions] in the north.”The
far-right party, whose name translates literally as “Jewish power,”
holds six of the Knesset’s 120 seats. If it were to leave the coalition,
the government would be left with 58 seats — three short of a majority —
and would be unable to govern.The party has threatened to leave the
government several times in the past.
NGOs seek Dutch ban on
export of F-35 parts that could end up in hands of IDF-The Hague court
set to rule July 12 in suit by human rights groups to block shipment of
jet components, after Feb. decision found parts’ use in Gaza could
violate international law-By Reuters 28 June 2024, 9:55 pm
THE
HAGUE — Lawyers for rights groups asked a Hague court on Friday to
order the Dutch state to block all exports of F-35 fighter jet parts
that might end up in Israel, including parts sent to the United States
to build fighter planes destined for the Israeli army.The court case,
started by rights groups including the Dutch arm of Oxfam, flows from
another district court ruling in February that the Netherlands cannot
send F-35 parts to Israel over concerns the jets could be involved in
breaking international humanitarian law in the war in Gaza.According to
the rights groups’ lawyers, the Dutch state stopped direct export of
parts to Israel but continues to deliver fighter jet parts to the US and
other countries which are then sent on or used in planes destined for
Israel.“The state must actively prevent that parts from the Netherlands
reach Israel via a detour,” lawyer Liesbeth Zegveld said.Lawyers for the
Dutch state told the court on Friday that the rights groups had a
flawed interpretation of the earlier court ruling, and the legal end
destination of component parts was the country where production takes
place, not the country where a final product may end up.“In these
deliveries the United States [is] the end destination” as understood by
European regulation, lawyer Reimer Veldhuis said, adding that the
Netherlands was complying with the earlier court order.The court is set
to rule in the case on July 12.
Palestinians, Israeli left slam
cabinet move to legalize settlement outposts-PLO says steps and punitive
measures against PA are part of continued ‘war of genocide’ against the
Palestinian people; settler leaders welcome efforts led by Smotrich-By
ToI Staff and Reuters 28 June 2024, 6:26 pm
A decision by Israel
to legalize five West Bank settlement outposts drew widespread criticism
on Friday from dovish Israelis and the Palestinian Authority, which
accused Israel of continuing a policy of “genocide” against the
Palestinian people.The statements came after the security cabinet, at
the behest of far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, announced the
steps and a series of punitive moves against the PA.Smotrich, who also
heads the Defense Ministry’s civilian administration, said the move was
in response to the PA’s international lawsuits against Israel and its
“push for unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state,” referring to
the recent decisions of Spain, Norway, Ireland and Slovenia to recognize
Palestinian statehood.“The government of Israel is advancing de facto
annexation of millions of Palestinians to our territory,” Labor party
leader Yair Golan wrote on X. “This annexation will harm the security of
our citizens, the future of our children and will bring about the end
of the Zionist dream.”Far-left lawmaker Ofer Cassif, of the
majority-Arab Hadash-Ta’al faction, slammed the decision. “No front will
satisfy the pyromaniacs’ government’s bloodlust,” Cassif wrote on X.
“More violence, more abandonment, more killing, more theft, more
occupation.”Wasel Abu Youssef, a member of the Executive Committee of
the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said the settlements are
“illegal colonies that violate all international resolutions.“The
decisions by the occupation government aim to pursue the war of genocide
against our Palestinian people,” he told Reuters, adding that the PLO
and the PA would continue pressing for Israel to be taken before
international courts and punished for “crimes against our people, and in
particular in the Gaza Strip.”Israel is embroiled in several
international legal cases, including a suit at the International Court
of Justice claiming the country’s conduct in the Gaza war amounts to
“genocide.”In addition, Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor of the
International Criminal Court, in May requested the tribunal issue arrest
warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister
Yoav Gallant over the country’s conduct throughout the war.Khan also
sought warrants against Hamas leaders for atrocities committed on
October 7, when the terror group led a thousands-strong onslaught on
southern Israel that killed nearly 1,200 people and saw over 250 taken
hostage, sparking the Gaza war.Khan’s predecessor Fatou Bensouda in 2019
launched a still-ongoing probe into Israel’s settlement policy in the
West Bank, which she said could amount to war crimes. The probe was
launched soon at the request of the PA — then a newly minted UN member —
in a move that Israel’s envoy to the UN at the time termed “diplomatic
terrorism.”Israel, which captured the West Bank in 1967’s Six Day War,
has gradually dotted the territory with settlements, which most of the
international community considers illegal occupation.There are currently
some half a million Jewish settlers in the West Bank, living alongside
over two million Palestinians, whom Israel does not consider citizens,
and whose movements the country routinely restricts.Israel has never
annexed the West Bank, claiming its military presence there was a
temporary measure pending a future resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict. The country occasionally clears out outposts erected without
the government’s consent, usually to right-wing ire.Smotrich said the
sanctions would include “enforcement action against incitement” by PA
officials, cancelation of their exit visas and stripping the PA of its
jurisdiction over illegal construction in a Judean desert nature
reserve.The outposts set to be legalized are Evyatar in the northern
West Bank, Sde Efraim and Givat Asaf in the central West Bank, and
Heletz and Adorayim in the territory’s south.The cabinet also okayed the
publication of tenders for thousands more homes in settlements,
according to Smotrich’s statement. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid are yet to comment on the matter, as is
the White House.Smotrich, himself a settler from the Kedumin settlement
in the northern West Bank — whose own home was allegedly built, in part,
on private Palestinian land — was recorded last week as saying that the
government was plotting a “mega-dramatic” plan to exert still greater
control over the West Bank.Settler leaders welcomed the move, with
Israel Gantz, head of the Binyamin Regional Council, saying it
“strengthens the State of Israel.”Yaron Rosenthal, head of the Gush
Etzion regional council, commended the “rare moment of peace” brought
about by Smotrich’s decision to strip the PA of its authority over
illegal construction in the Judea desert nature reserve.“The meaning on
the ground is that the massive [illegal Palestinian] construction we
have seen until now will be stopped immediately,” Rosenthal wrote in a
message to residents, adding that the council would seek to bring down
existing buildings.The late Thursday cabinet that resulted in Smotrich’s
touted settlement legalization was reportedly delayed due to a dispute
between the hard-right minister and Netanyahu over the move’s
potentially negative impact on ties with Washington — barely a day after
Defense Minister Gallant returned from there.
In France’s
high-stakes election, a Jewish candidate faces hate and division-Shannon
Seban, a candidate for Macron’s centrist camp, assailed while
campaigning for being a Jew and Zionist, told ‘there’s no place for you
here’By John Leicester and ALEX TURNBULL 28 June 2024, 6:10 pm
IVRY-SUR-SEINE,
France (AP) — Amid market stalls heaped with fresh foods, the shopper
walked past the young candidate campaigning for votes in France’s
high-stakes and torrid legislative election but then paused and doubled
back to give Shannon Seban a piece of her mind.What happened next is
becoming depressingly familiar for the 28-year-old candidate, who is
Jewish and says she’s increasingly on the receiving end of antisemitism
that has surged as a hot-button issue in the campaign. Seban’s heated
exchange with the shopper in the Paris suburb of Ivry-sur-Seine this
week before Sunday’s first round of voting appeared to bear out her
concerns.The woman accused Seban of being a Zionist, which the candidate
took as an insult. She then brought up Seban’s Jewish faith, which
further riled the prospective lawmaker because she regards her religion
as nobody’s business but her own.Both of them increasingly angry, the
shopper upped the temperature by saying to Seban: “There’s no place for
you here.” She then wheeled away and melted back into the crowd,
muttering “you’re a Zionist” like a curse as she did so.“To tell me I
have no right to be here is unacceptable,” Seban, who was born in the
Paris suburbs, shouted after her. The woman yelled back: “Aren’t you
ashamed to be here?”Although the roughly half-million people of Jewish
faith make up only a small portion of mainland France’s 66 million
inhabitants, they have unwittingly been thrust into the electoral fray
by the country’s bitter divisions over the Hamas-Israel war and a
tinderbox of accusations of antisemitism that opposing camps in the
legislative elections are hurling at each other.Jewish voters are
agonizing over how to choose in an election where the centrist camp of
President Emmanuel Macron is bracing for another possible beating by the
far-right National Rally — after it surged in European parliament
elections on June 9 — and by a new coalition of left-wing parties that
coalesced to stave off the prospect of France’s first far-right
government since World War II.Holocaust survivor and renowned Nazi
hunter Serge Klarsfeld, whose father was deported to the Auschwitz death
camp, never to return, provoked stupefaction in the campaign by
declaring that in a run-off between far left and far right, he’d vote
for the National Rally despite its historical links to antisemitism.
Jean-Marie Le Pen, co-founder of the National Rally’s forerunner, the
National Front, has multiple convictions for racism and antisemitism,
including for repeatedly saying that Nazi gas chambers were “a detail”
of WWII history.He was eventually expelled from the party as part of a
makeover by his daughter and successor, Marine Le Pen, to make it
palatable to mainstream voters.Speaking to French broadcaster LCI,
Klarsfeld said that, in his eyes, the National Rally has transformed and
“supports Jews, supports the state of Israel.” Klarsfeld added that he
regards the left-wing coalition’s largest component, the far-left France
Unbowed party, as being tinged with antisemitism and “violent
anti-Zionism.”France Unbowed leaders have staunchly condemned the
conduct of Israel’s war against Hamas and accused it of pursuing
genocide against Palestinians. But they have repeatedly and strongly
denied accusations of antisemitism. The left-wing coalition’s campaign
manifesto says: “Antisemitism has a tragic history in our country that
must not be repeated. All those who spread hatred of Jews must be
fought.”The manifesto notes that France’s estimated 5 million Muslims
are also targets of hatred. It pledges that, if elected, the coalition’s
government would propose plans to combat both antisemitism and
Islamophobia.The anti-immigration National Rally has long spoken out
against what it argues is a creep of Muslim religious and cultural
influences in France, often singling out Muslim women for wearing
headscarves and drawing links with Islamist extremism. In a section
titled “Preserving French civilization,” the National Rally’s campaign
manifesto promises legislation “targeting Islamist ideologies, a genuine
totalitarian threat of modern times.”The party also continues to face
intense scrutiny over antisemitism. In this election, it initially
disavowed one of its candidates in Brittany after the left-leaning
newspaper Liberation reported that Joseph Martin posted “gas brought
justice to the victims of the Shoah” in 2018 on what was then Twitter.
The National Rally subsequently rehabilitated Martin after ruling that
his post was taken out of context, said the party’s vice president,
Louis Aliot. Brittany newspaper Le Telegramme quoted Martin as saying
the “tweet was a tribute to victims of the Shoah.”Seban, who is
campaigning for Macron’s centrist camp, describes both the far right and
the left-wing coalition as “extreme” and says that “in power, it’s
civil war in the country.”“Far left, far right — for me, it’s a choice
between the plague and cholera,” she said.Contesting a seat in the
Val-de-Marne region southeast of Paris, Seban is notably up against a
France Unbowed leader, Mathilde Panot. Seban is pessimistic about her
chances — Panot won with 68% of the vote in 2022 — but is battling
on.“Good morning, Madame,” she said as she thrust a leaflet into the
hands of another market shopper. “We’re counting on you Sunday to be a
bulwark against the extremes. It’s important.”Attacks targeting French
Jews, places of worship and Holocaust memorials have surged in the wake
of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, that killed some 1,200 people, most
of them civlians, and took 251 hostages to Gaza.Seban says she faced
antisemitism before that. She spoke in an Associated Press interview of
being the target of particularly hurtful verbal abuse that she said
referenced her supposedly “murderous Jewish nose.” But she says hatred
has become particularly unrestrained since Oct. 7.Three burly private
security guards discreetly watched from a distance as Seban canvassed
voters at the market and on Ivry’s streets. She said her party assigned
her the security detail out of fears for her safety after a hostile
crowd confronted her on another stop in Ivry last Sunday.“I was booed,
hissed, heckled and, truly, I felt humiliated. At first, I stood firm. I
said ‘No, I won’t leave. I have the right to be here as a citizen,” she
recounted. “But as time went on, I saw that the crowd was starting to
get bigger and bigger. The shouts were very loud: ‘Get out, dirty
Zionist ! You are not at home here! Get out, get out!'”Finally and
reluctantly, “I had to leave.”“Anti-Zionism today is the new face of
antisemitism.” she said.Seban initally had a running mate, Mouayad
Mnemoi, who is Black. But he withdrew from the race almost immediately
after suffering racist abuse online and threatening phone calls, she
said. A photo Seban posted of the two of them together after they
registered their candidacy drew lots of messages of support but also
abusive comments referencing Mnemoi’s skin color.“It proves,” she said,
“that my fight is legitimate.”
US pier again removed from Gaza
coast due to sea conditions, may not be reanchored-Pentagon says there’s
a need to bring in more aid through the pier but the storage area is
‘pretty close to full,’ after UN halted distribution of supplies due to
security concerns-By Agencies and ToI Staff Today, 1:32 am-JUN 29,24
The
pier built by the US military to bring aid to Gaza has been removed due
to weather to protect it, and the US is considering not re-installing
it unless the aid begins flowing out into the population again.While the
military has helped deliver desperately needed food through the pier,
the vast majority of it is still sitting in the adjacent storage yard
and that area is almost full. Aid agencies have had difficulty moving
the food to areas further into Gaza where it is most needed because the
humanitarian convoys have come under attack.The UN, which has the widest
reach in delivering aid to Palestinians, hasn’t been distributing food
and other emergency supplies arriving through the pier since June 9. The
pause came after the Israeli military used an area near the pier to fly
out hostages after an operation to rescue four hostages from Hamas
captivity sparked deadly fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian
gunmen in Gaza, prompting a UN security review over concerns that aid
workers’ safety and neutrality may have compromised. The US has denied
the pier was used in the rescue mission.UN World Food Program spokesman
Steve Taravella said Friday that the UN participation in the pier
project is still on pause pending resolution of the security
concerns.While always meant to be temporary and never touted as a
complete solution to the problems getting humanitarian aid into Gaza, US
President Joe Biden’s $230 million project has faced a series of
setbacks since aid first rolled ashore May 17 and has been criticized by
relief groups and congressional Republicans as a costly distraction.The
pier has been used to get more than 19.4 million pounds, or 8.6 million
kilograms, of food into Gaza, but has been stymied not only by aid
pauses but unpredictable weather. Rough seas damaged the pier just days
into its initial operations, forcing the military to remove it
temporarily for repairs and then reinstall it. Heavy seas on Friday
forced the military to remove it again and take it to the Israeli port
at Ashdod.Several US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to
discuss military movements, said the military could reinstall the pier
once the bad weather passes in the coming days, but the final decision
on whether to reinstall it hasn’t been made.Sabrina Singh, a Pentagon
spokeswoman, acknowledged that she doesn’t know when the pier will be
reinstalled. “When the commander decides that it is the right time to
reinstall that pier, we’ll keep you updated on that,” she said.She also
said Friday that there is a need for more aid to come into Cyprus and be
transported to the pier. She noted that the secure area onshore is
“pretty close to full,” but that the intention is still to get aid into
Gaza by all means necessary. She said the US is having discussions with
the aid agencies about the distribution of the food.But, she added, “Of
course, if there’s not enough room in the marshalling yard, then it
doesn’t make sense to put our men or women out there when there’s
nothing to do.”Palestinians are facing widespread hunger amid the war in
Gaza sparked by Hamas’s October 7 terror onslaught. Border crossings
are far more productive than the sea route, but the Rafah Crossing on
the border between Gaza and Egypt has been shuttered since Israel
launched an offensive there, while the World Food Program says aid
workers trying to get shipments through the main remaining crossing —
Kerem Shalom — face risks from fighting, damaged roads, unexploded
ordnance and Israeli restrictions. The army claims it is trying to
facilitate aid shipments and accuses Hamas of disrupting them, noting
earlier this week that the terror group shelled a UNICEF aid convoy
being escorted by troops.
Trump again denounces political foe as a
‘Palestinian,’ this time going after Schumer-CAIR and Amnesty
International say former US president’s use of term is racist, after he
called Biden ‘a very bad Palestinian’ at debate-By Agencies and ToI
Staff Today, 4:59 am-JUN 29,24
Former US president Donald Trump’s
references to Palestinians during Thursday’s debate with President Joe
Biden were strongly denounced by advocacy groups, as he again deployed
the term against a political foe.Biden and Trump had a brief exchange on
the war in Gaza but did not have a substantive discussion on the
conflict sparked by Hamas’s October 7 terror onslaught.“The only one who
wants the war to continue is Hamas,” Biden said. Trump responded by
saying Biden has “become like a Palestinian,” which rights advocates
said came across as a slur.“Actually, Israel is the one (that wants to
keep going), and you should let them go and let them finish the job. He
(Biden) doesn’t want to do it. He’s become like a Palestinian but they
don’t like him because he’s a very bad Palestinian. He’s a weak one,”
Trump said.On Friday, Trump again used the term “Palestinian” in a
similar way, this time saying in a rally that Democratic Senate Majority
Leader Chuck Schumer, who is Jewish, was a Palestinian. “He’s become a
Palestinian because they have a couple more votes or something,” he
added, apparently suggesting the veteran New York lawmaker has become
too critical of Israel.The Council on American Islamic Relations, whose
executive director hailed the Hamas-led atrocities, said Biden was wrong
to claim that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants the war to end,
while adding it viewed Trump’s Palestinian comment in the debate as a
racist insult.Trump: Schumer has become a Palestinian. He’s Jewish but
he’s become a Palestinian pic.twitter.com/w95R9AbA8X— Acyn (@Acyn) June
28, 2024-“Former President Trump’s use of ‘Palestinian’ as an insult was
racist. President Biden’s touting of his military support for the
Israeli government’s genocide in Gaza was callous,” Corey Saylor,
research and advocacy director at CAIR, said in a statement.“To
insinuate that being Palestinian is somehow a bad thing, as former
President Trump did when he called President Biden Palestinian, reeks of
racism and anti-Arab hatred,” Paul O’Brien, executive director of
Amnesty International USA, told Reuters.CAIR has reported a rise in
Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian bias since the latest eruption of
conflict in the Middle East on October 7, which has fueled a surge in
antisemitism in the US and around the globe. The war in Gaza and
Washington’s support for Israel has also led to months of protests
against the Jewish state across the United States.Trump also faced
criticism for using the term “Black jobs” and “Hispanic jobs” while
claiming immigrants who were coming into the United States from its
border with Mexico were taking away those employment opportunities.The
Trump campaign did not have an immediate comment to the
criticism.Immigration is a key election issue and Trump has claimed
Biden has failed to secure the southern US border, ushering in scores of
criminals. Studies show immigrants do not commit crimes at a higher
rate than native-born Americans.
Why it would be tough to replace
Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket in November-As party weighs options
after US president’s debate flop, long list of candidates-in-waiting and
legal challenges touted by conservative groups could jeopardize
potential shake-up-By Will Weissert Today, 12:19 am-JUN 29,24
WASHINGTON
(AP) — US President Joe Biden’s halting debate performance has led some
in his own party to begin questioning whether he should be replaced on
the ballot before November.There is no evidence Biden is willing to end
his campaign. And it would be nearly impossible for Democrats to replace
him unless he chooses to step aside. Here’s why:Every state has already
held its presidential primary. Democratic rules mandate that the
delegates Biden won remain obligated to support him at the party’s
upcoming national convention unless he tells them he’s leaving the
race.Biden indicated that he had no plans to do that, telling supporters
in Atlanta shortly after he left the debate stage, “Let’s keep going.”
Biden campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt was even clearer, saying Friday:
“Of course he’s not dropping out.”The conventions and their rules are
controlled by the political parties. The Democratic National Committee
could convene before the convention opens on August 19 and change how
things will work, but that isn’t likely as long as Biden wants to
continue seeking reelection.The current rules read: “Delegates elected
to the national convention pledged to a presidential candidate shall in
all good conscience reflect the sentiments of those who elected
them.”The vice president is Biden’s running mate, but that doesn’t mean
she can swap in for him at the top of the ticket by default. Biden also
can’t decree that she replace him should he suddenly decide to leave the
race.The Democratic National Convention is being held in Chicago, but
the party has announced that it will hold a virtual roll call to
formally nominate Biden before in-person proceedings begin. The exact
date for the roll call has not yet been set.If Biden opts to abandon his
reelection campaign, Harris would likely join other top Democratic
candidates looking to replace him. But that would probably create a
scenario where she and others end up lobbying individual state
delegations at the convention for their support.That hasn’t happened for
Democrats since 1960, when John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson
jockeyed for votes during that year’s Democratic convention in Los
Angeles.Other potential Democratic candidates would also face
challenges-In addition to the vice president, others that had endorsed
Biden in 2024 while harboring their own presidential aspirations for
future cycles include of California and Governors Gavin Newsom of
California, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania
and J. B. Pritzker of Illinois, as well as Rep. Ro Khanna.Still others
who Biden bested during the party’s 2020 presidential primary could also
try again, including Senators Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Elizabeth
Warren of Massachusetts and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, as well as
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.If Biden were to abruptly leave
the race, conservative groups have suggested they will file lawsuits
around the country, potentially questioning the legality of the
Democratic candidate’s name on the ballot.US presidential candidates
vying for the Democratic party’s nomination after the party’s primary
debate: (L-R) former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, Senator
Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont,
now-But Elaine Kamarck, a senior fellow in governance studies at the
Brookings Institution in Washington, who wrote a book about the
presidential nominating process and is also a member of the Democratic
National Committee’s rulemaking arm, said that courts have consistently
stayed out of political primaries as long as parties running them
weren’t doing anything that would contradict other constitutional
rights, such as voter suppression based on race.“This is very clear
constitutionally that this is in the party’s purview,” Kamarck said in
an interview before the debate. “The business of nominating someone to
represent a political party is the business of the political party.”
Jewish
and Black advocacy groups announce support for mask ban at NY
demonstrations-At Manhattan press conference, heads of organizations
link surging antisemitism since October 7 to past actions of Ku Klux
Klan: ‘We can’t let history repeat itself’-By Luke Tress Today, 4:16
am-JUN 29,24
New York Jewish Week via JTA — Jewish and Black
advocacy organizations came together to announce their support for a ban
on masks at protests in New York State, linking contemporary
antisemitism by masked attackers to past actions by hooded members of
the Ku Klux Klan.Calls for a mask ban have gained momentum in recent
weeks, as legislation has been introduced in Albany and the idea has the
endorsement of Governor Kathy Hochul as well as Mayor Eric Adams. This
week, Los Angeles’ mayor floated a similar ban after clashes between
pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel activists outside a synagogue there.The
effort comes as antisemitism has surged in New York City and as
pro-Palestinian street protests, often by demonstrators wearing masks,
have roiled the Jewish community. Law enforcement has said masking among
demonstrators has hindered prosecution of crimes linked to
demonstrations — such as the occupation of a Columbia University
building earlier this year.“This is not about political speech,”
Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, said at a
Thursday press conference outside Columbia University announcing the
joint effort to ban masks at protests.“What we’re talking about today
aren’t activists, they’re antagonists,” Greenblatt said, charging
protesters with “hiding their identities behind masks so that they can
menace their fellow Americans with impunity.” proposed mask ban has been
gaining traction in New York, particularly following an incident
earlier this month when masked protesters in a subway car chanted “Raise
your hand if you’re a Zionist.” That same evening protesters, many of
them masked, demonstrated outside an exhibit commemorating the Nova
music festival massacre in a rally widely condemned as
antisemitic.“People have a right to be safe on our public
transportation, walking down the streets in their places of worship,”
Hochul said in an interview with MSNBC. “And no one should be able to
hide under the cover of almost a full-face mask to commit these
atrocities against fellow New Yorkers. That’s where we have to draw the
line.”Pro-Palestinian and leftist groups have pushed back against the
anti-masking effort, calling it an infringement on the right to free
assembly as well as a risk to the immunocompromised. The progressive
advocacy group Jews for Economic and Racial Justice announced an effort
called Jews for Mask Rights to oppose the legislation.“In addition to
offering the NYPD another reason to stop and harass people, a mask ban
gives the NYPD further excuse to claim arrests made at whim are
justified,” JFREJ executive director Audrey Sasson said in a Thursday
statement. “This proposed law is not about safety but about controlling
the bodily autonomy of and further marginalizing those who hold
currently unpopular political views.”The pro-ban coalition of Black and
Jewish groups, called Unmask Hate NY, is backing legislation to bar most
masking at protests which was introduced in the New York State Assembly
by Bronx Assemblymember Jeffrey Dinowitz, who is Jewish. The effort has
the backing of the ADL, the Jewish Community Relations Council of New
York, the NAACP, prominent Harlem pastor Johnnie Green, the National
Urban League, the UJA-Federation of New York and other state-level
lawmakers.In a statement, Hazel Dukes, president of the NAACP New York
State Conference, cited the Ku Klux Klan’s white hoods in her
endorsement of a mask ban. Several states enacted mask bans in the past
in order to hinder the hate group’s activities.“Black communities know
all too well that individuals who hide their identities with intent to
terrorize, intimidate or harass are a threat to all of our safety and
have no place in New York,” Dukes said in a statement. “Reinstating New
York’s masking laws will protect New Yorkers from some of the most
terrifying periods in our history; when the Klan menaced Black
Americans, faces covered, without accountability. We can’t let history
repeat itself.”Dinowitz’s legislation, which is still being finalized,
says it aims to “remove the cloak of anonymity from individuals who
commit aggressive actions against others during a lawful or unlawful
assembly or riot.” The proposed legislation makes exemptions for masks
and face coverings worn for medical and religious reasons.New York State
had an anti-masking law in place dating back to the 1800s, but scrapped
the bill in 2020 as masking became widespread to help stem the spread
of COVID-19. The Ku Klux Klan unsuccessfully challenged the previous law
in the US Court of Appeals in 2004.Dinowitz’s bill has not yet come to a
vote in the State Assembly, but he hopes to see it passed by the
beginning of next year.“Since October 7, antisemitism hasn’t spiked,
it’s skyrocketed, and we cannot allow people who are hateful to conceal
their identities,” he said at the Thursday briefing, adding that the law
was “not focused on any particular group.”New York State lawmakers
Brian Cunningham of Brooklyn and Nily Rozic of Queens, who is Israeli,
also spoke in favor of the legislation at Thursday’s briefing.Law
enforcement has said masking has impeded some investigations into
criminal conduct by protesters. Last week, the Manhattan District
Attorney’s office dropped charges against most of the protesters who
forcibly took over a building at Columbia University in April. One of
the reasons the charges were dropped was a lack of evidence against
individuals who were wearing masks, making them difficult to identify in
security footage, the D.A.’s office told the New York Jewish Week.Along
with JFREJ, other left-wing and pro-Palestinian groups — as well as
free-speech advocates — are mobilizing to protest a potential ban.A
group of anti-Israel activist groups announced a Saturday rally outside
Hochul’s office, calling the proposal “a clear infringement on the
rights of the people.” The activist groups often encourage followers to
wear masks at protests, and many wear keffiyehs, a scarf that has become
a symbol of the pro-Palestinian movement.“No mask ban. No Zionist
collaboration. Develop the summer of resistance,” an advertisement for
the rally said. “Mask up, bring rage and solidarity.”The Foundation for
Individual Rights and Expression, a free speech advocacy group that has
also criticized some pro-Palestinian protest activities, likewise voiced
concern, saying anonymity was core to free-speech protections in the
Constitution.“The First Amendment protects the right to speak
anonymously, shielding individuals from retaliation for expressing
dissenting or unpopular ideas,” Aaron Terr, FIRE’s director of public
advocacy, told the New York Jewish Week. “While some people may wear
masks to conceal their identity while engaging in illegal activity, that
does not justify an overly broad mask ban that criminalizes lawful
expressive activity.”Marc Morial, the president of the National Urban
League and a former mayor of New Orleans, told the New York Jewish Week
that protesters’ fears of doxxing were not “unreasonable,” and that “no
one should lose their job, their standing, their status because they
exercise their constitutional right.”But he supports a mask ban, tying
it to when the Ku Klux Klan targeted his family while he was growing up
in the South.“The KKK sprayed its insignia on our home,” he said, adding
that his family had received death threats from hooded agitators. “The
First Amendment and the right to peacefully assemble should not mean
masks or disguises while protesting.”Greenblatt said the comparison
between that experience and today’s protests resonated with him.“It’s a
lot like what we’re seeing here in New York, here and now with these
masked protesters marching down Broadway, so I think the parallels are
there,” he said. “Our communities have always been partners.”Pastor
Johnnie Green of the Mount Neboh Baptist Church in Harlem said his
support for the legislation was not an “endorsement” of the war in Gaza,
and that he backed anti-masking out of solidarity with the Jewish
community.“We are here to stand with our Jewish friends who have been
attacked by masked individuals,” Green said. “I’m not afraid of
repercussions.”
US targets petrol tankers over Iran nuclear 'escalation'
Washington,
June 27 (AFP) Jun 27, 2024-The United States on Thursday announced
sanctions against shipping companies for transporting Iranian oil,
saying it was a response to Tehran's nuclear "escalation," on the eve of
presidential elections in the Islamic republic."Over the past month,
Iran has announced steps to further expand its nuclear program in ways
that have no credible peaceful purpose," Secretary of State Antony
Blinken said in a statement.He said the United States was imposing the
sanctions "in response to these continued nuclear escalations," saying,
"We remain committed to never letting Iran obtain a nuclear weapon, and
we are prepared to use all elements of national power to ensure that
outcome."The State Department announced sanctions on three shipping
companies, all based in the United Arab Emirates, for allegedly
transporting Iranian oil as well as 11 associated vessels.The sanctions
block any assets of the companies in the United States and criminalize
US transactions with them.The United States already has a sweeping
unilateral ban on other countries buying Iranian oil, imposed by former
president Donald Trump when he withdrew from a nuclear deal.President
Joe Biden's administration initially said it would restore the 2015 deal
but gave up after exhaustive negotiations with Tehran, major protests
inside Iran and, more recently, tension over Iran's support for
Palestinian militants Hamas.The UN nuclear watchdog said earlier this
month that Iran is further expanding its nuclear capacities, with Tehran
informing the agency that it was installing more cascades at enrichment
facilities.Iran's cleric-led government denies seeking a nuclear
weapon. Iran on Friday holds elections for president after conservative
Ebrahim Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash.
